Me Against the World
by wingsgirl1313
Summary: Set after STWAOES.  Songfic to Simple Plan's Me Against the World.  Just a little bit of rebelious angst.  Oneshot.  R&R.


A/N: The idea for this songfic came to me when I was watching a You tube video titled "Flock Against the World."

Disclaimer: Do I have to? Fine. I do not own Maximum Ride. But I do have a thirteen dollar a week allowance that I am saving up to buy the story from James Patterson. Like that'll happen anytime soon.

"Me Against the World"

**We're not gonna be just a part of their game.**

**We're not gonna be just the victims.**

Those sicko scientists want to cut the world's population by half. The same scientists want to kill us.

We're not going to let them do that.

**They're taking our dreams and they tear them apart**

**Until everyone's the same**

The Flock and I were in a valley in California somewhere. We were together again, and I was complete.

_Max, I have something you should know,_ My Voice, AKA Jeb, AKA Dad said.

So I held up one finger and walked away from the Flock. Fang looked at me in understanding.

_Yes Jeb, _I thought.

_Max, the Itex laboratories have started growing Erasers and other mutants designed specifically for fighting again._

He must have heard me gasp because this time his voice was gentler.

_Maximum, you have to be strong and take care of the Flock, _he commanded, sounding more than a little patronizing.

_No duh,_ I snarled.

I could practically hear him sigh. I knew I was annoying him, but I didn't stop.

_And there's one more thing…._

_What now? _I mentally groaned.

_They use some of the cruelest methods I've ever seen. They…They raise the mutants to have souls. To think for themselves. And then they break them. _He sounded sad and weary. He sounded like a man who had seen too much.

"That's horrible," I whispered aloud.

Jeb didn't reply. I stood at there, outside of the campsite in a little patch of trees. Fang came to check on me. I must have looked as horror-struck as I felt, for he took me in his arms.

**I've got nowhere to go**

**I've got no place to run**

I was more than a little scared for me and my Flock. Even Total. Because according to what Jeb said, we could still be useful to their plan. I only knew one thing. I was not going to help Itex. I was going to save the world.

But how? We're just six bird kids and a talking dog. Where can we go? How do we keep the Director at bay?

But at that moment, in Fang's arms, I felt safe.

**They love to watch me fall**

**They think they know it all**

He let me go. He gave me an inquiring look that clearly said 'are you okay?' I shook my head.

"Fang, Itex has sunk to a new low. They have started raising new mutants. Erasers included. And then, Itex breaks them, so they can't think for themselves anymore."

"How is that any different from the mutants they have now?" he asked me softly.

"Because they are raised to have souls. They are raised to think for themselves. And then those Whitecoats go and take all the spirit out of them.

He whistled softly. So that means he was in utter shock.

"Max, they're not going to get us. They think they know everything about us, but they don't. And I plan to keep it that way."

I leaned my head against his chest and sighed wearily.

"But Fang, sometimes I think they watch our every move, just waiting for us to screw up. And the second we do, they're going to pounce on us. They want to dissect us, pick apart our brains. And I'm scared."

Whoa. Did I just say that? I never would have admitted being scared to anyone else.

"We won't let that happen," was all he said.

**I'm a nightmare. A disaster**

**That's what they always said.**

**I'm a lost cause**

**Not a hero**

**But I'll make it own my own.**

**Me against the world**

It was three days later, and I still had no idea of what to do. I'm a fourteen year old bird kid! I'm a freak created my modern science! How the hell am I supposed to do this?

_Go with the flow, Maximum, and the answers will come. In the meantime you can go to Memphis, Tennessee._

Memphis. Now wasn't that random?

I woke my Flock—it was about six o'clock in the morning and the sun was coming up anyway—and was about to start breakfast when I felt a hand grab my wrist.

"I'll be doing that, thank you very much," Iggy said as he took the materials and ingredients needed to cook breakfast. I laughed, but still remembered what Jeb had said. I don't get it.

So we ate. It was actually pretty good. But Iggy was cooking. What else do you expect?

"New plan of action guys. We're going to Memphis!" I tried to sound cheerful, but it must have sounded strained.

"Memphis," was all Fang said.

"Woo-hoo! We get to go to Graceland!" shouted Total. The little kids were suddenly very excited.

"We can see that room with all the jungle stuff in it! Ooh! And we can get a guided tour! That will be fun. Oh! And we can also go the see the Peabody hotel and the ducks and--mhhhmm!" Iggy had stuffed the remains of breakfast into Nudge's mouth to stop the word spew.

"Wow. I've never seen anyone turn that color of green," Gazzy stated. Nudge ran out into that little patch of woods, and Angel ran to comfort her.

It was hard to think that life could go on as normal. We were expected to be heroes and save the world. Itex had said itself that we were failed experiments. That had to mean that we weren't a threat in their minds, right?

**We won't let them change how we feel in our hearts**

**We're not gonna let them control us**

"That was great!" shouted Nudge enthusiastically as we left the IMAX. I wouldn't know seeing as I had been too busy watching for potential threats. Which is kind of hard to do in a big, dark, loud room filled with people that you can't see. But I nodded and listened as the younger ones rambled on about how great it was.

"Gee, it would have been swell if I could see any of it," Iggy sarcastically commented. Fang just stood there looking dark and sullen.

"It was almost too easy to find you in a little town like this," crooned a silky voice from behind us.

We all whipped around and saw twenty male models also leaving the IMAX. I can't believe there were that many in there, and I missed them! Oh, well. Between the six of us, we can handle them. Total, who was posing as Iggy's Seeing Eye dog growled and bared his teeth as we raised our fists. To tell the truth, he looked kind of funny.

"Come now kiddies, we don't want to make a scene. Look at all the people around us," the Eraser said. I groaned when I realized that we couldn't fight there.

Fang snarled, "Well then, since there are so many people, I suggest you leave before people start wondering why a group of full men is threatening a group of kids!"

I was shocked. Fang never spoke to anyone outside of the Flock. So we turned around and left.

If only things were that easy.

I woke up in a cage with something stuffed in my mouth. That was when I noticed the constant drone of a voice that spoke in one language after the other. When the voice reached English, my fears were confirmed.

I tried to keep my thoughts to myself, but Angel must have heard them and started to cry. So she was up before I was.

"Shh, honey. It's going to be all right. We'll get out again," I promised her after spitting out the gag. I had no idea how we were going to do that, but we were sure going to try.

**We won't let them shove all their thoughts in our heads**

**And we'll never be like them**

Okay, so we were in Germany. But why weren't we in that dungeon thingy chained to the floor? I was no fan of the dungeon, but hey, it was better than a dog crate!

"Hon, do you know how many of the others are awake?"

"I am," I heard Fang say from across the room.

We heard thudding footsteps approach our room and grew quit. A larger than usual Eraser picked up my cage and hauled me out of the room. I heard Fang growl from behind me.

The Eraser carried me through the building until we reached a large office. I recognized it at once and grew sick to my stomach. It was the Director's office.

"Set her down now. I can handle things from here," commanded a cold voice. A pair of high heeled shoes approached my cage and I heard the lock mechanism click. The shoes walked away, and I gingerly tested the door. It swung open, and I clambered out as quickly as I possibly could.

"Maximum, I have a deal for you." The Director spoke in such a way that you knew that there was no doubt in her mind that she was going to be obeyed. Boy, was she in for a surprise.

"And I have one for you," I growled. "You set us free and you live." Man, I was bad ass.

"You have quite the spirit. No, my deal is similar in some respects though. You and your Flock help us with the By Half plan, or you are kept here for tests and studies. What do you say?"

"What do you think I say?" I shot back. It is the most annoying thing in the world when someone answers a question with a question. That's why I did it.

"Well, I hope you say yes, Maximum. It is a very noble cause." Oh boy. Now I get to listen to her rant for an hour and a half about how noble her life's work is. Joy.

"Before you get started on your little rant here, I just have one thing to say. How is murdering effectively over three billion people in cold blood noble?"

"I see you are not to be dissuaded. Good night then." Wait I was getting off the hook that easily? What is with this woman?

**I've got nowhere to go.**

**I've got no place to run.**

She hadn't put me back in my cage. The window behind her was open. Call me crazy, but I ran for it. My God! She didn't even have chicken wire on her windows! An alarm didn't even go off when I jumped out. That means that they were expecting me to do so. Or were they just careless?

I circled the building until I found the room where the Flock was. Their window was locked, but it was a simple matter of breaking the glass. I frowned when my fist wouldn't penetrate the thick panes. I tried kicking the window this time. The window still didn't break.

Five worried faces peered out at me. Everyone but Fang showed shock and elation that I was outside. Fang just looked worried. He made a motion to move away from the window at me. Confused, I backed up about twenty feet.

He closed his eyes, and a look of deep concentration crossed his face. Then, to my utter amazement, the window broke.

I quickly flew into the room and unlocked all of the cages. My flock flew out one by one with Iggy holding Total. Once we were a good four hour flight away from that hell-hole I began to relax a little bit.

When we landed, naturally Fang was attacked by the Flock about his new power.

"When did you find out?"

"Is it only glass you can break?"

"What can you do exactly?"

And so on and so forth. But I was happy because we were free. We were together.

**I'm a nightmare. A disaster**

**That's what they always said**

**I'm a lost cause**

**Not a Hero**

**But I'll make it on my own**

**Me against the world.**

And so it was. Me and my Flock. Fighting the rest of the world. Forever.


End file.
